Brooklyn Barcade: Getting Your Gaming and Drinking On

With my Adventure Time t-shirt and my Gorillaz Chuck Taylors on*, I trekked my way into unknown territory last night.  For the first time ever in all the years that I have been living in NY, I set foot in Williamsburg, NYC.  I figured I needed to dress the part some because to infiltrate and understand the hipsters, you must become one like the hipsters.  I don't think I'd ever fully be able to succeed in that regard and my War on the hipsters continues but the point of the evening was for something far more entertaining than made-up wars in my head.  I went to play some classic, glorious video games on some glorious arcade machines and met up with some like-minded awesome people at the Brooklyn Barcade.

Flashback: So Many UFO Catchers, So Little Time...

At the end of May, it will officially be six years since my friend and I visited Japan.  Six years?! Somebody get me a rocking chair, set me up on a porch, and stage some children playing out front.  All this so I can tell the children to get off my lawn, mumble something about Whippersnappers and then shake my fist when in the same breath I tell them...You youngin's have no respect! Why back in my day... And they'll all roll their eyes and mutter, "Here we go! It's Flashback Friday..."

Adventures in the Last Week of August

The crap month that is August is finally coming to a close.  If the Zombie Apocalypse occurs at the end of the year, I'm sure I'll quite happily take another August over that.

In the meanwhile, I will continue to speak ill of the month in which my camera broke.  Yep, August continues to prove that it is pure evil because it was all August's fault that happened! Don't you see?!

In some sort of end of August madness, I wound up coming home late three nights this week for fun events with friends.

It was as if August was trying to redeem itself for its asshattery but I know better.

On Tuesday, I attended a Yankees game at the new stadium upon invitation by a work buddy along with Alex and Active Goat T.  While my usual practice would be to root for the other team other than NY (to be a contrary jerk - no other reason), on principle I could not do so for Toronto.  You know, Canada and all... haha, Canada! I only kid.

The Delta Lounge or whatever it's called.  Too lazy now to look it up.  Laaazzzyyy!!

Congratulations!

Dear Beetchie,

Happy Graduation and congratulations!

We are proud of you.

Love,

The HOchieS.

Confirmed

Today's Thursday is in fact one of the crappiest in recent memories.

I just found out as I was writing Thor's Day that Beetchie was injured in a horse incident today which resulted in three of her ribs being broken.  As horrible as it already is, we can only be thankful that it was not worse because it certainly could have been.  =( 
We love you, Beetchie.

Sometimes They Forget

I had a very interesting conversation with Beetchie yesterday and it seems that she may have lost her marbles for a minute.

She seems to have forgotten that I can be quite evil.

To help remind her (although I did a fine job of that yesterday when I referenced a certain flower girl and a Masamune), I will present to her some pictures of delicious times H1 cooked and we indulged in some weeks ago.

Why yes, those are pictures of curried crab and dumplings.

No worries though, Beetchie, as we will make some more when you return.  Perhaps we might even be able to find a Carib to go with.  

 But just so you are reminded as to the extent of my evil, by posting these pictures I'm not only being a jerkface to you but possibly to X as well.

It's only unfortunate this does not affect MC, as he is still allergic to shellfish.

Happy Birthday to Two of Our Frenemies

There are two birthdays to celebrate today with wishes going out to Beetchie and CLee.

CLee, we did not get you a prezzie, much less a prezzie of some smug Apple product.

Beetchie, I am too lazy to go take a picture of your prezzie to post it on the blog.

We're wonderful frenemies, aren't we?

Happy Birthday!

Yeaauuhhhhh!!!!

Congratulations to Beetchie on passing her boards!

Woo!

We're very excited for you because we knew you could do it and you put in so many years of hard work!

It's super awesome.

We're also very excited for ourselves because guess who's one step closer to becoming a Suga' Momma?

Beetchie, that's who.

The End of Days, Part VI: The Takoyaki Stand, The Best Fries, and a Failed Toy Run. Again.

As one final adieu "until next time, of course!" with Beetchie in the Summer, we went to our old haunts in St. Marks.

H1 and Beetchie are obsessed with takoyaki, as I'm certain I've mentioned before.  What's not to obsess over though? Takoyaki's pretty fabulous what with its gooey, chewy, salty masterful texture and flavour.  We have yet to find another stand that makes it fresh outside of Tokyo but are thankful enough to Beetchie to have discovered this one.

Never you mind the hipsters on the street.

Crafty

We had no idea that Beetchie was so crafty.  We did know she was shady and "crafty" in that sense but actual 'stitch and felt crafty'? ::GASP!::

Now all I can think about is all the stuff she can make me...bwahahahaha.

I got a wonderful red package from Beetchie today and I knew that it would be good because things that come in a red packet tend to be awesome, right B.?

It is truly bazoobs.

Building Puppets

Beetchie, this post is for you.

We hope you have fun building your little puppets.

Here's your picture guide as to how they should look because while we thought it would be hilarious to throw things at you to figure out on your own (because we're mostly evil bitches), we decided it would be horrible to have a three eyed turkey or a feathery scarecrow:

Misadventures: Because You Know You Missed Them

It's been two long weeks.  Earthquakes, hurricanes, record flooding... and it's the first week of September which always means that people decide they need to do all the work they neglected to do for the earlier Summer months.

Yet, when Beetchie and I go out together, I am still surprised by the mishaps that occur when we're out together.  But why should I be? The weeks have been crappy and meeting up with Beetchie at the end of it all should always signal some sort of disaster.

Don't believe me or need a reminder?

What about the raw squid or raw taro? That doesn't sound like horror to you? Well it should because it sure was horrible to us.

What about that almost awful head injury?

Exploding bakeries? Anyone?

And countless other events (including all of the Japan trip) that I am not recalling here; I am beginning to feel like a broken record.

So why so surprised every time something happens? Well, because it's almost unbelievable.

That's not to say that we did not have a good Summer last year when we got Doughnut Plant doughnuts for the first time...or Ippudo or went to see Scott Pilgrim.  I don't recall anything odd happening and maybe that's just what the problem was.  Again the built up pressure of non-happenings could no longer hold and resulted in Saturday Morning's events.

We went looking for Nom Wah Tea Parlor.  On Google Maps, it appears to be right next to Joe's Shanghai but what we found next to Joe's Shanghai was this:

Really?

One Week, Two Chinatowns - Part II

Had the N train not decided to run like rubbish on Friday morning, the trip to Brooklyn would have not taken the extra half an hour longer than it did.

The extra half an hour really cut into our dim sum eating time! But, now we know it can easily be done and East Harbor Seafood Palace is within reach for future jaunts without having to drive to Brooklyn in a mini-van with which to both embarrass and kidnap Beetchie.

The entire day was hit with snafu after snafu.  Beetchie unfortunately got food poisoning, and could not partake in the dim sum feast.  We almost did not see her, actually.  We also forgot that Alex was not eating meat on Fridays during lent, and all the pork I ordered did not go to waste, but there could have been more and/or different types of pork on the table.

Also, being super late led us to not having the luxury to relax, take pictures at leisure or do any such thing.  It turned out to be a really long day.

Spare rib tips were excellent here.

One Week, Two Chinatowns - Part I

This week, Beetchie made an NYC appearance for Spring Break.  Although it was not completely planned, we ended hitting up Chinatown in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

It's been some time since H1 and I have been to Chinatown in Manhattan (well, H1 went in January without me).  Though it has been pretty cold and the streets were fairly empty, there was something just off with Canal Street on Monday evening when we went.

It was... clean.  There were new buildings, and worst of all, it was not shady at all.  It was rather jarring, and completely odd.  A clean Chinatown just sort of seems wrong.  It shocked me in Yokohama, and it certainly scared me when H1 and I stepped off the N train line.

Maybe it was the light of the evening?

Happy Birthday, Bs!

Today, the HOchieS are wishing Clee and Beetchie a fine day full of Birthday cheer and Birthday beer, respectively. 

Sorry this is so late but you know, I forgot.  Bwahahahaha.  Just kidding.

Lots of love!

I Used To

I used to have a friend named Beetchie.

We played games together.

We spoke nerd together.

We braved exploding bakeries together.

We traveled to Japan together.

She used to call me Emo (which I vehemently deny because that's all lies); and I used to call her smug (a statement she proudly agreed with).

She's still around, living on the other side of the land in the Hippyville that is Oregon.

She's also still my friend or she was until today.

Today, I realized that I have actually shared many a life experience with my "friend"....

...Justin Bieber

Some tweens and others may consider me extremely lucky, but I am so shocked and embarrassed that I had to even hide the bao head's identity on top of hiding her own.

It pains me to look.

She may be blaming Oregon for the Bieber haircut.  However, I am unconvinced! ::sniff:: I feel so lied to...all these yesrs...

New Adventures...With (A Somewhat Unexpected) Incident. Part V: Scott Pilgrim Vs. The Big Gay Ice-Cream Truck

After our ramen lunch, with just enough time to spare before the 3:15 p.m. showing of Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, we headed over to the Regal at 14th Street.  When we got to the theatre, we were told we had the wrong one.  It was that OTHER Regal across the way.  Oh.  Well then.

You know, things happen for a reason.  If not for the diverted route, we never would have run into the beautiful sight that was this:

Yes! Finally!

New Adventures....With (A Goblin?) Incident! Part IV: Lunchie Munchies

After leaving Toy Tokyo, we stopped by the Takoyaki stand to buy H1 some takoyaki.  She quite likes it and Beetchie is rather happy to have found a friend to gush over the goodness that is takoyaki.  Beetchie is still under the impression that I don't care much for it but she is mistaken and I might have to call shenanigans on her.

The plan was to buy a batch to go for H1, and then Beetchie's plan was to steal one from H1's batch.

Beetchie would have gotten away with it too, without H1 knowing, if it weren't for me - the pesky frenemy.

We then proceeded to Ippudo for lunch.  I had high hopes for the place having read before hand that pork belly was used in some of the ramen dishes.  I also saw that it was highly rated from a few sources but I have come to learn that sometimes, you just cannot trust the Internet.

I know...take a deep breath.  Sometimes...the Internet lies to you!

With the storefront easy to miss, the loudness of the eating area (which we could not see from the front), the decor, and plentiful Asians - I had more positive vibes going than negatives.

1. Easy to miss while walking around, leading to a shady ramen place? Perfect.
2. Everyone greeting you traditional Japanese style as you enter and leave? Excellent.
3. Lots of Asians in and out of the place? Fantastic! That's a sure sign it's good!
4. Funky decor? Beautiful but...do I sense a little bit of hipsterism/artsy bs? Hmmm...

Truthfully, I was fascinated by it.  It was not going to be a homey, little Japanese place like my most fond memory of our dinner with Japanese business men and the Hattori Hanzo of food.  However, it was beautiful nonetheless, in a New York City sense of sensibility.

On the wall.  I loved it.

And the Verdict?

New(-ish) Adventures....With (Non-Life Threatening) Incidents, Part III: No Toys and No Takoyaki (Before 1 PM)

The walk to Toy Tokyo was a good one minus the sun.  It turned out to be a nice enough day - not hot, cold or rainy but comfortable.

Toy Tokyo was not yet open when we got there, so instead we headed to the Takoyaki place to discover they too were not opening until 1 p.m.

With half an hour to spare, we made our way to a pet store and used their A/C without shame and I took some pictures of the Takoyaki shop.

I did not get good pictures of the place the last time and with the area being so quiet, I figured it was the perfect time to do so.

Having never been at St. Mark's at that time of day, the experience was rather odd and nostalgic of Japan.  Without the hustle and bustle of people since we usually find ourselves there in the evening, the area was reminiscent of the time Beetchie and I were looking for our very last Ryokan in Tokyo at the end of our trip.

Shady, quiet streets littered with unassuming Ramen shops, baths and a tea house made it very much pleasant.

New Adventures...(really) Without Incident! Part II: Breakfast of Champeens

This is what the plan was supposed to be:

Breakfast: Doughnut Plant
In Between: Toy Tokyo.  Takoyaki?
Lunch: Ippudo
Afternoon: Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

This is what happened:

Breakfast: $1 Dumplings
Second Breakfast: Doughnut Plant
In Between: Walk to St. Marks then around and about until...
1 p.m.: Toy Tokyo
In Between: Beetchie stealing a Takoyaki from H1
Late Lunch: Ippudo
Unexpected (but I willed it!): Big Gay Ice-Cream Truck ice-cream
Afternoon: Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

Thursday morning came with the thought of dumplings still on Beetchie's mind.  There was just something about these dumplings from a particular Dumpling House in Brooklyn that Beetchie insisted I had to try.

After eating them, I know what that reason was.  Or should I say, reasons?